There isn’t much else to do in Invercargill two days before Christmas except open a whole bunch of wine. Or so we told ourselves. Earlier in the day, we had visited the Southern-most point of the South Island of New Zealand, so Pinot Noir seemed an appropriately extreme varietal for our evening tasting.
Starting with the obvious, then, we opened a bottle of Jacques Cacheux & Fils Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas 2005. I’ve tasted this wine before, and my experience of it on the night was consistent with my earlier tasting. Very much on the funky side, this isn’t a world-beater but shows intense perfume, an attractively nimble character and enough finesse to keep things interesting.
Warmed up by now, we headed straight for the heavy hitter: J.K. Carriere Antoinette Pinot Noir 2005, from the Willamette Valley in Orgeon. It’s amazing when you consider this wine travelled first from Oregon to California, then from California to New Zealand, and finally to our hotel room in Invercargill. Even more amazing is knowing, the whole time, 2,4,6-trichloroanisole was swimming around in the liquid, destined to disappoint us. Chris was especially disheartened, having lugged the bottle a long way for us to taste together. I couldn’t resist having a quick taste. Although quite tainted, a velvety mouthfeel and considerable density of fruit flavour were evident. What a shame.
In an effort to perk up our spirits, we moved on to Picardy’s Tête de Cuvée 2005 from Western Australia. What a provocative wine. People talk about bringing the drama of a particular site or terroir to the bottle and, for better or worse, this wine exemplifies that particular approach. It’s wonderfully elusive, with a range of high toned notes including orange peel, flowers, spice and smoke. In the mouth, it’s light yet with notably intense fruit character. Great drive through the palate. Chris was prompted to note a certain similarity to Bourbon, and I get this through its extravagantly fragrant profile. Despite these qualities, it tastes so marginal one wonders how the wine was ever made. It teeters on the edge of not existing at all. A beautiful one-off, then. I still can’t decide whether I like it.
We chose a local to finish off the evening, being the 2007 Mount Difficulty Pinot Noir. A total contrast to the Picardy, this wine belongs to the meatier, more subsantial Central Otago camp. Heady notes of Pinot fruit, nutmeg and ripe tomatoes, says Chris. I found the palate quite acidic and a little disjointed, though Chris had less trouble with this aspect of the wine. We ended up drinking it over three days and, by the final glass, it was singing a much smoother song, almost glowing with gentle fruit and a harmonous, velvet structure. Lovely wine.
Oh pffft. I know you are a Tête’s man. It’s a lovely wine.
GW
It is a lovely, extraordinary wine, you’re right. It can be hard to judge such singular wines in a line up, don’t you think? We had a similar experience with Lakes Folly’s Cabernet later in the week.
I brought a bottle of Picardy home for my Dad (but don’t remember there being a Tête at the time) in 2002, and it was one of the more interesting wines I’d ever shared with him. I’d still argue that there’s something not right with their pinot in general, but isn’t that why they’re fascinating and delicious?
On a side note, only the Picardy wine was finished at the end of the night; the others were consumed over the next few days. Oh, and JK Carriere have graciously agreed to replace the bottle of their Antoinette pinot noir with their next club shipment. Yay!